


The Stargazing Knight and the Princess Without a Kingdom

by savanting



Series: Kashimalin's 50 Kisses Challenge [44]
Category: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon, Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon | Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, First Kiss, First Love, Hurt/Comfort, Not Actually Unrequited Love, One Shot, Possibly Unrequited Love, Post Sailor Stars, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sailor Moon Manga, Sailor Moon Sailor Stars, Short One Shot, Unrequited Crush, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-06
Updated: 2021-01-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:22:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28570695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savanting/pseuds/savanting
Summary: Seiya isn't who she wants to be, not yet, but her princess still needs her. One-Shot.[Prompt 38. Whispering 'I love you' before a chaste, delicate kiss.]Using Kashimalin's 50 kisses prompt list: https://www.google.com/amp/s/kashimalin-fanfiction.tumblr.com/post/178524845380/50-kiss-prompts/amp
Relationships: Chiba Mamoru/Tsukino Usagi, Princess Kakyuu/Seiya Kou, Seiya Kou & Taiki Kou, Seiya Kou & Tsukino Usagi, Seiya Kou & Yaten Kou, Seiya Kou/Tsukino Usagi, Taiki Kou & Yaten Kou
Series: Kashimalin's 50 Kisses Challenge [44]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2023708
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	The Stargazing Knight and the Princess Without a Kingdom

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own any _Sailor Moon_ incarnation or property.
> 
> Thanks to @Five_seas for the pairing and prompt. Am I basically pretending like I'm continuing _Sailor Moon_ decades after the manga's conclusion? Um, yes. I didn't know I had it in me since I'm one of those people who pretends I'm always happy with canon. But here we go where I play with my own headcanons and "what-if's." And if you're a Seiya/Usagi fan - I'm sorry. I just wanted to try something a little different.
> 
> The link to the original kiss prompt list: https://www.google.com/amp/s/kashimalin-fanfiction.tumblr.com/post/178524845380/50-kiss-prompts/amp

Kinmoku and its three moons were just dust left to spread throughout the galaxy, and Seiya mourned with her sister senshi just as anyone who had been robbed of a homeland - a _home planet_ \- would have done.

What remained of Kinmoku was just energy left to spool in some other sphere within the universe. Lost, spiraling, wayward.

But beyond Yaten and Taiki, Seiya’s eyes found the star-bright gaze of Princess Kakyuu, who had yet to cry over what little remained of what had once been their home. If Seiya had been braver, she would have reached out and grasped her liege’s hand, showing solidarity and offering comfort at the same time.

All Seiya managed to do was clench her fists together, useless, at her sides.

 _Princess, what are we supposed to do now?_ the leader in her wanted to ask, edging towards some type of action. Her role as Star Fighter, the leader of Kakyuu’s own personal guard, urged her to assert her position. _What’s the plan of attack?_

But now was not the time for such empty grandstanding.

All of them had to take into question just really what was most important at this crucial time.

Kakyuu closed her eyes, her hands drawn together, and her senshi followed suit.

There was no room left for words of sorrow or even hope.

Seiya had never felt so helpless in her entire life.

*

The senshi of the Milky Way galaxy had been all too willing to welcome them back as refugees. Despite the fact that Galaxia’s mission of utter destruction had been derailed and the star seeds had been returned to their hosts, some things could not be regained - or resurrected.

Even Usagi, the future near-invincible figurehead known as Neo-Queen Serenity, had her limits.

“Will you be all right?” Usagi asked, her voice hesitant, when the four of them had returned to earth to regroup. Seiya tried to avoid looking at the one otherwise known as Sailor Moon; she couldn’t help but feel embarrassed by how she had acted in her initial time on earth. Seiya couldn’t deny there had been chemistry between her and the former moon princess, but really…

Seiya’s eyes kept skating toward Kakyuu, who had taken over discussions with the future monarchs of earth. Usagi, of course, had noticed - giving Seiya a meaningful look.

All the while, Seiya tried not to hone in on the engagement ring on Usagi’s hand - or the way she had her arm settled in the crook of her fiance Mamoru’s arm.

 _We were just running away,_ Seiya thought. _We were no better than war-time lovers who simply try to find the ghosts of their dead loved ones in other people._

And those loved ones would have stayed dead - if not for the power Usagi had wielded as Eternal Sailor Moon.

They would all still be just star seeds left to be used as puppets within Galaxia’s hold otherwise.

“We don’t want to impose on your hospitality forever,” Kakyuu said, “but, given the circumstances…”

“You’re not an invader,” Mamoru was saying, “so of course we’re more than willing to offer you sanctuary. For as long as you need, until you decide what course of action you want to take.”

Kakyuu bowed her head. “It’s so gracious of you,” she said. “We feel so blessed to be under your care.”

Seiya hated to see her princess bow her head to anyone, even if it was to the people who they owed their survival to.

There was just so much she wished could have been done differently.

Why couldn’t _she_ have been strong enough to enact vengeance upon Galaxia herself?

“Seiya?”

She had disconnected herself from the group, but of course Usagi had followed. As Seiya turned her head, she desperately hoped she didn’t look on the verge of tears.

“What is it?” Seiya asked, trying to keep her voice gruff, but Usagi just offered a soft smile.

“I see now what you meant,” she said, “about how you had your own things to protect.”

Seiya felt a blush come to her cheeks. “The princess is - is-”

“Someone you care about very much,” Usagi said. “There’s nothing wrong with having something you want to protect.”

_Love is just a burden. I don’t need it. I swear, I don’t need it-_

“I just don’t want to see her so sad like this,” Seiya murmured.

“But she’s not alone: she has you and Yaten and Taiki,” Usagi said.

_But are we enough?_

Perhaps Seiya didn’t want the answer to that question.

*

That night, as the three senshi and their princess settled into a boarding-house owned by the Hino conglomerate, Seiya kept finding herself glancing back at Kakyuu - who had been withdrawn and quiet ever since they had secured the provisions of shelter, beds, hot water, a kitchenette, and groceries brought over by Makoto.

“I never realized how blessed we really were,” Seiya heard Yaten murmur to Taiki, the latter of whom nodded silently. Seiya’s sister senshi had been unusually quiet themselves in this transition period.

“Yeah, who knew posing as a boy band would have been such a luxury?” Seiya found herself saying - even though she knew that wasn’t what the other two were referring to. The shadow of Kinmoku’s obliteration - certain, unobjectionable, _final_ \- still hung over all of them. They might never recover from that kind of loss.

“Maybe we _should_ have kept up the charade,” Yaten murmured, as if Seiya’s words had sparked a new scheme in Star Healer’s head.

“Maybe someday,” Taiki said softly, “but we have to worry about the princess first.”

Of course their first concern had to be Kakyuu. There was no arguing over that.

While Yaten had gotten through showing Kakyuu the human amenities - such as the bath and clean clothes - Taiki and Seiya went through the groceries. Though Makoto had made sure to provide them with packets of meat and bags of vegetables, the truth was that none of the Star Lights were handy in the kitchen. While masquerading as celebrities, they had had their pick of restaurants, and there had been no need to learn their ways around a kitchen.

Good thing there were cup ramen tucked in the last grocery bag. They could manage boiling hot water.

After Kakyuu was the first out of the bath, Seiya nearly did a double-take to see her princess in such a state: her red hair was unbound, and she wore a loose T-shirt and pajama shorts. She looked much younger, hardly a regal figure; Seiya didn’t even think she had ever seen Kakyuu dressed in anything other than ceremonial clothing.

Upon noticing Seiya’s gaze, Kakyuu actually looked...embarrassed, tugging at the hem of the shirt she wore. Yaten actually made a swipe at the back of Seiya’s head. “Stop staring at the princess like that! You’re making her self-conscious!”

Seiya glared at Yaten. “I didn’t mean to!”

Yaten just shook her head. “Save the moon eyes for that other princess. Leave Kakyuu-sama out of it.”

And there it was, out in the open, and Seiya wished she could have punched Yaten - but, no, there were witnesses. She wouldn’t be violent in front of the princess.

But that didn’t mean Seiya wouldn’t glare daggers at Yaten over the dinner of cup ramen.

When the kitchen was cleaned up and everyone had a bath for the night, Kakyuu actually tugged on Seiya’s shirt. Again, she was struck by how… _young_ the princess seemed.

“Will you come outside with me?” she asked, her voice soft. “I want...I want to watch the stars before I go to sleep.”

And how could Seiya ever refuse her?

As Yaten and Taiki argued over rooms, Seiya led the princess outside into the chilly night air. She laid a spare coat over Kakyuu’s shoulders. “I don’t want you to catch cold,” she said. “No knowing how human illnesses may affect you.”

Kakyuu actually chuckled to herself. “What?” Seiya asked, somewhat defensive.

“Oh, just thinking how we’ve been together so long that it’s just...familiar. Being with you here like this.”

Feeling Kakyuu’s gaze on her, Seiya looked up towards the sky to avoid looking into those eyes that were like pools she could have gotten lost in. “There’s nowhere I’d rather be than at your side, princess.”

But to Seiya’s surprise Kakyuu sighed. “You had the choice to become human, didn’t you? When you were given back your star seed?” Seiya didn’t answer right away. “Why did you choose a life of servitude to me?”

“It’s - it’s not servitude-”

“Why, Seiya? Why would you choose this life again?”

Seiya was quiet for so long that she almost hoped that the princess would forget - but of course that wouldn’t happen.

Finally, with all the courage she could muster, she looked at the princess who was more dear to her than anything. “Why else? I love you, princess.”

Seiya’s voice was soft, husky, but Kakyuu’s eyes still widened with every word.

What Seiya didn’t expect next was Kakyuu’s response: the princess brushed her lips, feather-light, against Seiya’s.

The senshi who had once been able to make other warriors quake in her time as Star Fighter found herself completely frozen by this new unexpected opponent.

When Kakyuu pulled away, the princess wore a soft smile that was all too innocent. “Shall we go in? We have a long day ahead of us.”

The only reply Seiya could bring herself to give was a slight nod.

If Yaten or Taiki noticed anything different, they said nothing.

But that night Seiya’s dreams for the first time in ages were sweet things made of light instead of the shadows of war.


End file.
